Article for protecting clothing



Nov. 11, 1952 F. G. BACKMAN 2,617,105

ARTICLE FOR PROTECTING CLOTHING Filed Feb. 7, 1951 6 a4 ee'aa 4 Patented Nov. 11, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Frances G. Backman, Newton, Mass.

Application February 7, 1951, Serial No. 209,791

3 Claims.

This invention relates to an auxiliary protective article adapted to be used by mothers or other persons during the bottle feeding of infants. As is well known, it is customary during the bottle feeding of babies to pick the'child up periodically and hold him in a position to facilitate the elimination of gas accumulated in the stomach. This procedure is commonly known among mothers as "burping the baby. In carrying out this operation, it is usual for the mother to hold the baby in one arm so that his face will be close to her shoulder and then, by gently patting the baby on the back, the gas will usually be discharged to the babys relief.

As is also well known, the baby is also quite likely to upchuck a greater or less quantity of previously swallowed milk along with the gas, to the detriment of the mothers dress or clothing. Numerous protective articles have heretofore been devised which mothers have customarily placed on their shoulders to protect against this condition but in general, due to the complications of these previous articles, they have not come into general use. Instead it has been more usual to throw a towel or diaper over the shoulder which in a general way serves the protective purpose.

During the burping procedure, it is normal for the mother to use both arms and hands. Accordingly a place to put the bottle while the degassing is accomplished must be found. To find such a place for the bottle is often inconvenient and if stood on a table, shelf or window sill, for example, the bottle may be easily upset and possibly broken.

Accordingly, it is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an auxiliary protective article which a mother may quickly and readily don which will be so secure that it cannot be dislodged by the baby from the mothers shoulder and which, at the same time, will be large enough to give adequate protection while providing a pocket for temporarily holding the bottle during its period of non-use. The article may be used on either shoulderand the pockets at the ends may also be used to hold not only the bottle but smaller wiping cloths, if desired.

The invention contemplates that the article will be made of material which may be readily washed or cleaned and which may be applied in reverse position so that after one portion has been soiled it may be turned around to present a clean surface toward the babys face.

The article may be made of various types of nTaterials but ordinarily will be made of conventional terry cloth, diaper cloth or bath tow- 2 elling. In some cases the article could be made of absorbent paper of sufficient strength but of such low cost to permit it to be thrown away after a single use.

These and other objects of the invention will appear as the description of the invention proceeds with the aid of the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a plan view of a piece of fabric from which the article may be fabricated.

Fig. 2 shows the cloth of Fig. 1 folded andstitched in its finished condition with tying tapes attached to the ends.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of one end of the article with a feeding bottle placed in the poc"et.

Fig. 5 shows the manner in which the article is applied to the shoulder of the user with the bottle in place in the front pocket.

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6--6 of Fig. 2.

The article may be readily formed from any rectangular piece of material of suitable si e. If

the article is made from towelling of conventional width a suitable length of such goods will be split longitudinally to form a niece as shown in Fig. 1. In such case the article 2 will have the selvage at 4, the opposite ed e 6 hemmed or bound by tape and the t o ends 8 and H! like-- wise hemmed or bound by tape, whichever is preferred.

The cloth 2 is then folded alon lon tudinal lines as illustrated in Figs. 2, 3 and 6. This arrangement forms a back I2, turned ed es l4 and 16, front faces I 8 and 20 and're ersely turned lips 22 and 24, which lips have as their terminal edges the edges 4 and 6 previously referred to. For a limited distance at both ends the abutting ed es of the faces [8 and 20 are stitched together as indicated-at 26 in Fig. 3 andover the longitudinal distance from each end that ter-- minates at the points 28 and 30 in Fi 2. All of the unstitched material bet een points 28- and 30 is folded in the mannerof thev stitched ends. Thus, by clasping lips 22 and 24 at the middle portion thereof the article may be stretched laterally to expose its full width. The ends are stitched crosswise as at 32 and 34, thereby effectively closing the ends so that a pocket is formed at each end of suflicient size to receive a feeding bottle 36.

One end pocket and the arrangement of the feeding bottle therein is shown in enlarged perspective in Fig. 4 where it will be seen that by expanding the unstitched portion of the article above point 30 somewhat the bottle 36 may be dropped therein where it will be securely held while the article is in use during the baby burping operation.

The manner in which the article is positioned on the mother is shown in Fig. 5. The central portion which goes over the shoulder as at 38 is expanded to its full width and when in this condition provides ample area of coverage for the clothes so that milk or .food ejected by the baby will be deposited "thereon, thus saving the mothers clothing. The article is placed over the shoulder so that substantially equal portions are in front and in back. The lower ends are carried diagonally across the body. and drawn together at the waist on the opposite side. The ends are secured by tying together the tapes 4!! and 42. In this position, the 'pocket 44 will be located near the mothers right side and away from the position of the baby as he rests against the mothers left shoulder. In this way it is possible to insert or remove "the bottle :from pocket 44 while 'the'baby is still supported against the shoulder. The bottle, when in the pocket, will be insulated by the cloth to delay cooling. The pocket may also be used as a receptacle for a towel or cloth for wiping the babys mouth.

It will -be "understood from the foregoing that while conventional towelling or diaper cloth will probably be the preferred material to be used still the article may be made of other types of sheet material such as, for example, paper, flexible plastic and material with a water-proof back and an absorbent face. In general, any flexible material having the desired protective qualities can be used.

In addition, if the article is of sufficient length the ends may be permanently connected, in which case the article would be placed on the shoulder by dropping it over the -head and one arm. Similarly, other connecting means could be used in place of the tapes 40 and 42, such as hooks and eyes, snap fasteners or'buttons and cooperating buttonholes.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that I have invented an article of great simplicity which will adequately protect the users clothing and which, at the same time, may be washed in the usual way along with the rest of the family wash. No special care or treatment is necessary. After washing, the article will assume the folded condition of Fig. 2 by merely drawing the ends apart. Pressing is unnecessary.

Since the article will be of low cost a mother may buy a sufficient quantity to have a fresh one available at all times while the soiled articles are accumulated to be washed periodically in accordance with the usual household customs.

It is my intention to cover all changes and modifications of the example of the invention herein chosen for purposes of the disclosure which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A protective article formed from a rectangular piece of flexible material folded symmetrically along its long dimension on two lines to form a back and two front faces with the edges of said faces stitched together over a limited distance at both ends, said material also folded longitudinally at the abutting edges of said faces to provide reversely, outwardly folded lips overlying said faces, and the ends of said article being stitched transversely through the said back, front faces and folded lips to close the ends thereby forming a tubular pocket at each end while leaving the central portion of said article capable of being unfolded to its maximum width.

2. A protective article formed from a rectangular piece of material which is relatively narrow in relation to its length, said material folded symmetrically along two longitudinal lines to form a back panel and two faces with the width of the folded over material on each side exceeding half the widthof the said back, said folded material having two minor longitudinal folds forming lips in which the exterior longitudinal edges of the material are folded outwardly away from each other an amount just suflicient so that the said folded edges between said faces and lips will substantially 'abut, the said edges between said faces and lips bein secured to each other at each end of said article for a limited distance, and each end of said material after the folds have been completed being stitched transversely thereby to seal the end and to form a pocket within which an article may be placed, the central portion of said folded material being adapted to 'be extended by the user to its full width to produce a substantial work area.

3. A protective article formed from a rectangular piece of flexible material folded symmetrically along its long dimension on two lines to form a back and two front faces, said faces having their inner edges facing each other, the said edges stitched together over a limited distance at both ends, additional material extending reversely from the unstitched facing edges of said faces and overlying the said faces, the said back and two front faces stitched transversely together close to the ends thereby to close the ends and to form a tubular pocket 'at each end while leaving the central portion of said article capable of being unfolded to its maximum width, which maximum width is greater than the circumference of said pocket. FRANCES G. BACKMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 355,417 Spencer Jan. 4, 1887 1,285,917 Bradley et al Nov. 26, 1918 2,455,352 Beckman Dec. 7, 1948 2,528,371 Kaler Oct. 31, 1950 

